Glass substrates are used in a variety of applications such as automotive applications, architectural applications, aerospace applications, etc. Depending on the end use of the glass substrate, it will be desirable for the glass substrate to exhibit certain (a) aesthetic properties, such as, but not limited to, color and (b) solar control properties, such as, but not limited to, total solar energy transmittance (“TSET”), infrared transmittance and ultraviolet transmittance.
For example, in automotive applications, glass substrates are used as automotive vision panels (i.e., front windows, sidelights, etc.). Automotive vision panels need to exhibit a desirable color. At the present time, desirable colors for automotive vision panels include blue, bronze, green and gray. Further, if the automotive vision panel is used as a front windshield, it will have to exhibit a visible light transmittance (“Lta”) of equal to or greater than 70% in the United States. The Lta requirement for front windshields in countries other than the United States may be different.
The aesthetic properties and solar control properties of a glass substrate can be modified in several of different ways. The first way involves depositing a coating on the surface of a glass substrate. The second way involves changing the chemical composition (i.e., the type of materials that make up the glass composition and/or the weight percentages of the various materials in the glass composition) that make up the glass substrate. Oftentimes, colorants and/or other materials capable of modifying the solar properties of the glass composition are added to a well known base glass composition, such as a soda-lime-silica base glass composition, to provide a glass substrate capable of exhibiting unique performance properties. Although the effect of one colorant or one material capable of modifying the solar properties of the glass composition may be known (for example, it is known that adding FeO to a base glass composition increases the infrared (IR) absorption of the glass composition), it is the essence of invention to use various colorants and/or materials capable of modifying the solar properties of the glass composition, each colorant or material capable of producing a unique effect individually, to achieve a combination of properties collectively.
According to the present invention, specific materials capable of modifying the solar properties of a glass composition are added in specific amounts to a soda-lime-silica base glass composition to provide glass substrates capable of exhibiting the desired aesthetic and solar control properties. The combination of aesthetic and solar control properties provided by glass substrates formed from the glass composition of the present invention are as follows at a reference thickness of 0.160 inches (4.1 mm):
1. a gray color characterized by a dominant wavelength ranging from 500 to 560 nanometers and an excitation purity of less than or equal to 4 percent;
2. an Lta greater than or equal to 60 percent;
3. a total solar energy transmittance (TSET) of less than or equal to 53 percent; and
4. a total solar ultraviolet transmittance (UV) of less than or equal to 50 percent.